The Young
by SSA James
Summary: Not much has changed in the last few years for Danny and his friends, but it could be very different soon.
1. Chapter 1

**Set in the trio's junior year of high school, making them sixteen/seventeen. The events of Phantom Planet never happened (meaning no one knows about Danny's secret identity). **

Sam walked tiredly into her room, stripping off her dress from the night before, shrinking into a large "Fenton Works" t-shirt. She threw herself onto her plush, black and purple coated bed. Sam hadn't even been awake long enough for her hang over to kick in.

_This is why I should never let Tucker talk me into drinking, _she thought to herself. Normally, she didn't like to do it, because it led her to make stupid decisions.

Right as she was about to fall asleep, her phone rang out with Tucker and Danny's pre-recorded ringtone of them screaming "SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM".

Sam groaned and let it cycle through a few more "SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM, PICK UP THE PHONE, SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM"s before actually answering.

"What's up?" She answered.

"Hey, it's me," Danny's solemn voice conflicted with the cheery sound of it on the recording.

"Any particular reason you're calling me at five in the morning?" She asked, knowing fully well why he was calling her at five in the morning.

"You left," He said, simply.

"Yeah, about an hour ago. Was that it?"

"Uhm, do you know if we, uh, did anything?"

"Yeah. But we do 'anything' all the time, Danny," Sam said, sitting up and tucking her phone between her shoulder and ear, sweeping her just-past-shoulder length, black hair into a ponytail.

"Yeah, but we're usually sober," Danny said. "And usually not at parties," Sam shrugged, even though she knew Danny couldn't see her.

"Does it really matter?" She asked.

"Not really, I guess," Danny got quiet for a moment. "You still coming over later for movie night?"

Sam knew he was changing the subject and she was grateful for it. She didn't really want to talk to Danny about their drunken encounter, which is why she left as soon as she'd woken up next to him in Tucker's attic.

"You know it. I'll see you tonight," Sam said, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "Love you, Danny."

"Love you, too, Sam," Sam hung up tossing her phone onto the floor and slamming her head back onto the pillow, falling asleep almost instantly.

_**At Tucker's**_

Danny continued to stare at his phone after Sam hung up, looking at the background picture of him and his two best friends last Halloween, with Danny dressed as Captain America, Sam dressed as Thor, and Tucker as the Black Widow.

Sam always had a nonchalant attitude towards sex. That made it hard for Danny to tell her that he liked her more than a friend. Every time he would try, she would change the subject. It didn't really matter to her if they were dating or not, they still had sex, and they still loved each other more than anything.

Danny grabbed a pillow, covering his face and groaning loudly. "Oh, boo, a girl wants to have emotionless sex with me," He scolded himself sarcastically. "Quit being such a bitch, Fenton."

"Dude, just tell her," Tucker slurred from the floor. He was still a little buzzed from all his drinking.

"Don't be stupid, Tucker," Danny said, tossing the pillow at him.

"Why not, dude?" Tucker asked, searching for his glasses before Danny handed them to him. "You guys have been fucking each other for like two years."

"Yeah, but that's different," Danny said, "She thinks of us having sex as more of 'we're just really good friends', not 'I really like her'," Danny had had to explain this concept to Tucker multiple times since he had told him that he'd lost his virginity to Sam sophomore year.

"Danny, she's a girl. I mean, she's a Sam-girl, but she's still a girl. She's also pretty hot. She has feelings for you, otherwise she would have just banged any other guy."

"Dude, I have told you like four hundred times," Danny said, pushing his hand across his face. "She _does _have feelings for me. But only as a friend. She trusts me."

"Whine, whine, whine," Tucker said, lying back down on the floor. "Just fucking tell her, you pussy."

_**Monday Morning, Casper High**_

"You didn't want me to pick you up?" Danny asked Sam, getting out of his very beat up Toyota. He looked down at his small friend. While Sam had blossomed in the way of feminine curves, Danny had just grown taller. Much taller. He looked like he'd been pulled through a taffy stretcher. The top of Sam's head barely reached his shoulder.

"Nah, I needed the fresh air," Sam said, hoisting her spider back pack up higher.

"I'm just glad I don't need to get rides from my dad in the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle," Danny said, locking his car even though he knew no one would take the time to steal it.

"Only nine more months, guys," Tucker said, approaching his friends. Like Danny, he'd also gotten taller, but he wasn't as gangly as his half-ghost friend.

Danny and Sam both groaned. "And then another fucking year after that," Sam said as they started their trek from the parking lot to the Casper high main building. Not much had changed since their freshman year, ghosts still terrorized the students, Dash still pushed smaller kids into lockers, and Paulina still commanded the male populations' attention. Well, most of the male population. One certain half ghost kid no longer carried his card to the Paulina fan club.

"Don't remind me," Danny said. "Do you think I could avoid Lancer's?"

"Not likely," Sam said. "He's been up your ass lately."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he thinks I have 'more potential'," Danny said, putting air quotes around his words. Lancer really had gotten on him about applying to college for early admissions. He seemed to forget that Danny was a strictly C student.

"Potential to be gay," Danny sighed as his back pack was shoved over his head. Even though he was taller than Dash now, that didn't stop the school's golden boy from picking on him.

"That's not an insult, Dash," Sam said. Danny intended to ignore Dash, finding it easier to just go about his day and not give Dash the satisfaction of knowing that he had any sort of effect on Danny.

But Dash had different plans.

While Sam was fixing Danny's back pack, her back turned to Dash, Dash shot a quick look to Danny before using his little finger to lift the edge of Sam's dark purple miniskirt, enough to see the outline of her panties under her black tights.

"Hey, Manson, why don't you spend a little time away from Nerdville?" Dash asked, still looking under Sam's skirt. Many had noticed that Sam had grown over the years.

Danny quickly grabbed Sam before she could crash her combat boot against Dash's skull. Danny could have easily picked Sam up with only one arm, but with how hard she was struggling against him to get to Dash, he decided it would be safer with two.

"You misogynistic piece of shit," Sam growled out, pushing down on Danny's arm. "Danny, put me down!"

"You should probably get out of here," Tucker warned. Dash laughed, but his eyes showed fear. It was common knowledge that Sam was terrifying.

"Psycho pixie," Dash yelled over his shoulder as he walked away.

"Women aren't objects that you can just do what you please with!" Sam hurled back, earning her some snickers and looks from the people in the hallway.

Danny and Tucker shared a look, shaking their heads. "We should just let her beat the shit out of him."

"Can't let her get suspended in the first two weeks of school," Tucker said. They turned down the hall to their shared homeroom.

"You can put me down, Danny," Sam said, her mouth still pursed in anger. Danny shifted her over, holding her under his left arm.

"Only if you promise not to kill anyone," Tucker said.

"Fuck you," Sam said. "He had it coming. Sexist bastard."

"Hey, I'm all for you kicking his balls into his mouth," Tucker said, putting his hands up. "Just maybe wait until we're not in the hallowed halls of Casper High."

"Any other time, though," Danny said, setting the Goth down on her feet in front of their classroom.

"Can't you just do some ghost shit and pull his intestines out his nose?" Sam asked, hiking up her back pack as they walked into the classroom. As always, they were early. Not even Mr. Callus had come in yet. They liked to avoid the rush of students coming in at the last minute.

"Somehow I don't think that's what the good guy is supposed to do," Danny said, taking his normal seat at the back of the class.

"Okay, maybe just possess him and make him call Lancer a fat fuck," Tucker said. "At least get him a detention."

"Yeah, I'm not doing that either," Danny said, flipping open his notebook to finish the English assignment that he hadn't had the time to work on the night before because of a run in with Skulker.

Sam pulled Danny's notebook to her, and took out her own.

"I thought you weren't going to do any more of my assignments," Danny asked, peeking over her shoulder as she started writing.

"Shut up or I won't."

_**Lunch hour, Wednesday**_

"There's no fucking way," Tucker said, his attention on his PDA. "Nightmerica II was way better than the original."

"Are you even hearing yourself?" Sam asked, pointing her salad fork at Tucker. "Originals are always better."

"You just didn't like What's-His-Face in the second one," Tucker argued.

"Of course, I didn't, he was the idiot that got everyone killed," Sam said, crunching down on a carrot. "But that's not the point."

"This has a point?" Danny asked. He'd been watching the argument since they exited the school building to spend their lunch hour outside, enjoying the last few days of sunny warmth before October came. At least, Danny and Tucker we're enjoying the sun; they chose a table near the trees so Sam could sit in the shade, across from the boys.

"Eat me," Sam said. "Anyways, I'm not going."

"Come on," Tucker said, finally looking up from his PDA. "Even if it sucks, it's still a Nightmerica."

"Just take that one girl you've been talking to," Danny said.

"Jenny? Yeah, maybe," Tucker said, shrugging. "Wait, does this mean you're not going either?"

"Not on your life."

"Oh, okay, I get it," Tucker said, rolling his eyes. "You guys are going to leave me to try to get past second base with Jenny the sophomore while you're busy bumping uglies."

"Tucker," Sam hissed as Danny sharply elbowed him.

"Oh, sorry," Tucker said, clearly not sorry. Danny was about to scold him further, but a cold breath slithered out of his mouth.

"Fuck," Danny said, diving under the table. "Cover me."

Sam laid across the bench, pretending to grab something from her backpack and blocking Danny from the view of anyone in the main population that happened to look over. He quickly turned into Phantom.

Tucker pulled the Fenton thermos from his bag, handing it to his best friend as he jumped out from under the table.

Screams came from the front of school and Danny sighed as he heard the distinct laugh of Vlad Plasmius.

"We'll meet you out front," Sam said, pulling on her bag, trying to look like she wasn't talking to Danny, as he was already drawing the usual attention that came with being Danny Phantom.

Danny nodded and flew towards the school entrance, almost immediately spotting Vlad's flashy white costume among the flood of students running in fear.

Danny shot up higher, so he was floating only a few feet away from his archenemy. Also known as the guy that wanted to bang his mom.

"How come you never try to terrorize my school when I'm in Geometry?" Danny said, his arms crossed.

"A good education is very important, Daniel," Vlad said, zapping a tree branch and making it crash onto the ground.

"Can we just hurry this up?" Danny asked. "I'd kind of like to just kick your ass and finish my lunch."

"How's Jack?" Vlad asked, like they were having a chat over coffee and not two half ghost beings about to engage in combat.

"He's great," Danny said. "Mom's great too. You know, being married to the love of her life and all."

"Very funny, Daniel, very funny."

"Not a joke," Danny shrugged. Vlad was about to deliver what would likely be a witty comment about Danny's inferior powers when Danny interrupted him with the heel of his boot to the elder ghost being's face.

Vlad spiraled downward, nearly hitting the ground, but he pulled up just in time. He pitched himself forward, his hands outstretched to ring the neck of the ghost boy, but Danny swerved and just missed Vlad's attack.

"You little-," Vlad's insult was again cut off with a blow from Danny's fist.

"Great shot, Invis-O-Bill," Dash yelled from the ground. Danny looked down briefly and found that most students had directed their attention upward. He spotted Sam and Tucker glaring at Dash.

"You have fans," Vlad said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, not the kind of fans I want," Danny said.

"Yes, what's the point of being a good guy if you don't get a hoard of attractive young women to fawn over you?"

"Oh, well, I have that," Danny said, jerking his thumb to a group of cheering girls on the ground with shirts that had sayings like "Ghost Lover" or "Invis-O-Babe". Lancer had them cover up the more inappropriate ones like "Phuck Me, Phantom". Sam had joked that she wanted one for Hanukah. Danny had been flattered by this, until Tucker suggested they get matching ones.

"Of course, you do," Vlad said, rolling his eyes.

"Don't be jealous, Vlad," Danny said, opening the thermos while Vlad was distracted. "I'm sure your cats are cheering you on."

Vlad didn't even have the time to curse Danny before he was pulled into the thermos in a flash of light. Danny capped it and twirled it around his finger.

"Don't be a show off," Sam yelled from the ground. Danny switched the thermos to his middle finger and giving the bird to his best friend.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Friday night, Fenton Works**_

Danny tried to look interested as his dad explained what all the new equipment did as he packed it into the Family Assault Vehicle. Jack and Maddie were on their way to a convention, leaving Danny by himself for the weekend. After he had come home nearly an hour after curfew the night before (Technus' fault), Danny's parents had threatened to call Jazz home from school to stay with him, but they all knew they wouldn't. It wasn't worth the lecture from Jazz about the psychological damages it would cause at Danny's "impressionable age".

"Jack," Maddie said, organizing their bags as Jack tossed them in. "You're going to break something if you just keep throwing things in like that."

"No worries, Maddie," Jack said, though he set the last gun-type prototype gently into the back of the RV.

"He says that," Maddie said, rolling her eyes. She grabbed Danny's face, pulling him down to her height to kiss his cheek. "Now be sure to turn on the ghost shield as soon as we leave."

"Got it, Mom," Danny said.

"Do you remember the password?" Maddie asked.

"Yes," Danny answered lazily.

"Daniel," Maddie warned. Danny sighed dramatically.

"Ghostsbeware," Danny said. "Look, I remembered."

"I'm just making sure, Danny," Maddie said. "I don't want you getting attacked by ghosts while we're gone. What would you do?"

Danny suppressed a laugh. "You're right, Mom, I don't know what I'd do."

"Exactly," Maddie said with a confident nod. "We'll be back Sunday morning."

"Aren't you going to tell me not to have any parties?" Danny asked.

"You? Have a party?" Maddie laughed. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're going to have Sam and Tucker come over and you three won't move from in front of the TV until the pizza arrives."

Danny huffed a little, crossing his arms. "No," He lied.

"Yeah, we'll have bathroom breaks, too," Tucker said as he and Sam approached Fenton Works arm in arm.

"Look, right on time," Maddie said with a smile. "Thanks for keeping an eye on him."

"No problem, Mrs. Fenton," Sam said. "We don't want him getting in any trouble."

"I'm an adult, in case any cares," Danny muttered. Maddie reached up and pinched his cheek.

"You're about two years off, sweetie," Maddie said.

_**Later, in Danny's Room**_

Sam had marked so much already on Danny's five page essay about the Crucible that it was starting to look like the paper had been in a bar fight. Danny peeked over her shoulder from his spot at the head of his bed to see some of his many mistakes.

"Do we have to do this now?" Danny asked. "I have the whole weekend."

"Yes," Sam said, still focused on the paper. "I can get it out of the way, and on Sunday night, it's all on you if you don't get it done."

Danny wrapped his arms around Sam's waist and pulled her into his lap, making her drop his bloodied essay onto the floor.

"How is this helping with your homework?" Sam asked.

"It's not," Danny said, kissing her neck. "But Tucker's only going to be gone for a little bit longer."

"Now, what exactly are you suggesting?" Sam asked, clearly knowing the answer. Danny instead flipped them around so Sam's back was on the bed and Danny was pressed against her. "Oh, yeah," She said sarcastically with a smile. "That."

Danny pulled up Sam's black tank top and throwing it to the floor. Sam pulled him down to kiss her, holding him as close as he could get.

Danny often wished she would let him kiss her in public, but that would mean having to establish exactly what they were. Sometimes she'd give him small pecks, but only in front of Tucker, and even then it was rare. She wanted to keep their public displays of affection friendly, much like their relationship outside of the bedroom and the occasional backseat.

But for now, he'd be content with having his face buried into her breasts in the privacy of his own home.

Sam nudged Danny's shirt up. He took the hint and pulled it up, tossing it to meet hers on the floor. Danny moved his hand under Sam's skirt, thumbing the edge of her underwear. He was constantly grateful that he had improved his skill since they first started having sex, no longer needing to think of baseball and former President Bush to make it past the two minute mark.

Sam arched her back to unclip her bra, losing it somewhere at the end of the bed. Danny reached down, phasing Sam's skirt off.

"You're so lazy," Sam said with an eye roll. She didn't mind the use of ghost powers during sex, except when he was doing it just to show off. Or when he decided to become invisible just to mess with her.

"Less fumbling," Danny defend, phasing off his pants.

"See, I feel like that's cheating," Sam said. "Everyone else has to fumble."

"Yeah, but they have time to fumble," Danny said. "I have other, more heroic things to do."

"Is that why I'm always doing your homework?" Sam asked. Danny kissed her again so he wouldn't have to come up with a witty retort.

"Oh, Jesus Christ," Danny covered Sam's chest with a pillow at the sound of the last one third of their trio entering the bedroom. "At least you guys weren't mid-thrust this time."

"You're disgusting," Sam said, picking Danny's shirt up off the floor and putting it on behind the pillow.

"Learn how to lock a door," Tucker said, shrugging.

"Learn to knock," Danny said, pulling on his jeans.

"I wasn't even gone that long," Tucker defended, sitting down on Danny's desk chair.

"Exactly," Sam and Danny said in unison.

"Sorry for interrupting," Tucker said with his hands up. "But it's not like you're not gonna just do it another time."

"Whatever," Sam said, waving him off. "What are you doing back so early?"

"Yeah," Danny said. "I thought you said you and Jenny were a 'sure thing'."

"Turns out to be not such a sure thing," Tucker said. "She was just hanging out with me so I'd fix her computer."

"Oh, shit," Sam said, her voice softening with sympathy.

"That's shitty, Tuck," Danny said, giving his friend a pat on the back.

"Eh," Tucker said, shrugging. "I still got a hand job out of it."

Sam threw the pillow at Tucker. "I repeat, you're disgusting."

"We can't all rely on our fuck buddies, Sam," Tucker said. Danny elbowed him. "Now, can we please just get drunk?"

_**Saturday morning, Fenton Works**_

Sam sponged off her hair with the soggy towel. Tucker had passed out a few hours ago and Danny and Sam had used the time alone to their advantage.

Danny touched his chin, looking in the mirror. "I'm thinking of growing a goatee," Danny mused aloud.

"No way," Sam said.

"What, why not?" Danny asked, looking away from the mirror.

"You'd look like Dan," Sam said, reaching out and touching the soft stubble on his cheek from a few days of not shaving.

"I really should have asked him his work out regiment before I locked him in the thermos," Danny said.

"Nah," Sam said, smacking his shoulder. "I like scrawny, teenage Danny."

"Yeah, but big Danny might be more useful in a ghost fight."

"Speaking of which, it's been a while since we had a ghost free night," Sam said, running a brush through her wet hair. "That's pretty rare."

Danny shrugged. "Maybe they had plans for their Friday night."

"Unlike us?" Sam laughed.

"What, we didn't have plans?" Danny asked.

"I wouldn't call the three of us drinking shitty beer, eating pizza, and playing Mario Kart 'plans', exactly," Sam said.

"Rude, I worked super hard on a fun night," Danny said, mock offended. Sam shoved him and laughed again, going back to her hair. Danny watched her for a long moment. "How pissed do you think your parents would be if they found out about us?" He asked.

"I'm still on probation for my nose ring," Sam said, flicking the silver hoop in her nose. "So I wouldn't test it. Besides, I don't really plan on having a conversation with Pamela and Jeremy about who I'm fucking, so I don't see a problem."

"Well, yeah," Danny said. "But I mean, if we were to, you know-," Sam sighed, cutting him off.

"Danny," Sam warned.

"You're right, that'd never happen, never mind," Danny said, immediately regretting bringing it up.

"You and Tucker are like my favourite people in the world," Sam said. Danny knew the speech that was coming. "And this is just fun."

"Yeah, I know, Sam," Danny said. "Forget I brought it up."

"No," Sam said, putting the brush down and looking at him in the eye. "I'm worried that you're thinking that you're feeling something that you're not."

"You sound like Jazz," Danny said, trying to make a joke.

"Maybe we should stop this," Sam said, motioning between them.

"Wait, what?" Danny asked. "Why? You were cool with it ten minutes ago."

"I was cool when I thought you could handle this," Sam said. "I don't want to-,"

"Ruin our friendship," Danny said, repeating the words she'd said on multiple occasions. "I know, I know." He assured.

"What about that one girl in your gym class that has a crush on you," Sam suggested. "What's her name? Star's little sister?"

"Daisy?" Danny asked. "What about her?"

"Despite being the sister of a harpy, she seems really nice," Sam said.

"Sam, are you seriously telling me to date Star's sister?" Danny asked, not more annoyed than anything else.

"It'd be good for you," Sam nodded.

"So you're seriously stopping this?" Danny asked.

"Yes," She said curtly.

"Sam," Danny started.

"Maybe this was a bad idea in the first place," Sam said.

"Whatever, yeah, maybe it was," Danny said angrily.

"I'm gonna go," Sam said, quickly putting on her clothes. "I'll see you on Monday, okay?"

"Okay," Danny said, jaw tight. "Bye."

Sam gave a short wave before leaving quietly, trying to not wake the still sleeping Tucker. Danny thought his heart couldn't beat any faster. This is what he'd been afraid of all along. He never should have taken Tucker's advice and just stayed quiet. At least then, he got to be with Sam.

Danny heard the door shut downstairs. Without thinking, he threw his fist into the wall next to him, immediately regretting it as blood started to trickle out of his knuckle.

_**Sunday afternoon, Manson residence**_

Sam stared at the dark purple canopy above her bed. She hadn't gotten out of her pajamas all day, choosing instead to lie around and watch crime shows. She had also been ignoring her bleeping phone.

She didn't want to admit it, but she knew she should have told Danny the truth. In fact, Sam didn't even want to admit that there was a truth to tell. She'd tried to convince herself that she only thought of Danny as a friend, but not-so-deep-down, she knew it was a lie.

A knock on her door startled her into a sitting position, but it opened before she could even tell the person on the other side to go away.

"What the Hell, Sam?" Tucker said, barging into the room and slamming the door behind him.

"Hi to you, too, Tucker," Sam greeted lazily.

"Why did you break up with Danny?" Tucker asked. Sam felt her face flush.

"We didn't break up," Sam defended. "We weren't dating."

"Fine, whatever," Tucker said, waving her off. "Not banging anymore."

"Tucker, you don't understand-," Sam started.

"You're right, I don't," Tucker said. "You like Danny, so why would you break things off?"

"He thinks that he likes me," Sam said. Tucker looked ready to shake her senseless.

"How is that a problem?" Tucker said. "He's liked you forever. Just how you like him."

"Friends can't break up," Sam explained. Tucker let out a sigh of exasperation.

"So you're just going to watch him date random girls and pretend you don't care?" He asked. He didn't wait for an answer. "This is the stupidest fucking thing, Sam. This is just going to be freshman year all over again."

"Yeah, when I just liked him quietly and he drooled over Paulina and Valerie," Sam said, pulling a pillow into her lap so she could pretend to be intrigued by the fraying threads.

"How is that preferable to actually being with him?" Tucker asked. "He's told me how he feels about you, he doesn't want Paulina or Valerie or anyone else."

"He only thinks that because we've been hooking up for like a year," Sam said.

Tucker looked at her for a long moment before grabbing the pillow in her lap and hitting her in the face with it.

"Tucker, what the Hell?" Sam yelled at him.

"Danny. Likes. You," Tucker said slowly. "I can't believe I have to explain this to both of you. He's liked you for like ever. You've liked him. You are both the biggest fucking idiots."

"You don't-," Sam started again, but Tucker cut her off with another pillow in the face.

"Idiots," He repeated.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny tapped his pencil on his notebook impatiently, looking at the clock above the classroom door and willing the hands to move faster. "It's only going to slow down if you watch it like that," Sam said, not even looking up from her own doodles.

"I'm just not thrilled by math," Danny said, tapping more furiously. Sam snatched his pencil away, putting it on her chair and sitting on it.

"Do not," She said, going back to her notebook.

"It's just never going to end," Danny sighed melodramatically and slumped on their table.

The bell rang out over them and Danny couldn't get his things together fast enough. Sam shoved her books into her bag and hurried after him.

"What is your hurry?" Sam asked. "I know Algebra isn't exactly exciting, but it's not running away worthy."

"If you really want to know," Danny said, slowing down so Sam could catch up to him. "I'm avoiding the-," Danny was cut off when he bumped into a very small, curly haired freshman who then promptly fell onto her butt.

"Hi, Danny," She said with a big grin on her face, despite being knocked to the ground by a giant. Sam noticed she had on a neon green shirt with the Danny Phantom logo on it. When more a few more girls came up behind the first, all wearing similar shirts, Sam realized what Danny had been trying to avoid: the Phan Club.

"Shit, sorry, Tammy," Danny said, reaching down to help the small girl up.

"It's okay," Tammy assured as Danny pulled her to her feet.

A round of excited "Hi, Dannys" erupted from the Phan Club. Danny sighed, giving a small, defeated wave.

"So is he going to come today?" One of the other girls asked, excitedly.

"He doesn't really have a schedule," Danny said, shifting his backpack higher. "He kind of just shows up when there's ghosts to fight."

"Well, can you ask him to come to a meeting sometime, the next time you see him?" Tammy asked. Danny sighed again.

"Sure, I'll try."

The girls squealed loudly before running off. Danny rubbed his hand over his face as Sam looked up at him with a bemused smirk.

"What was that about?" Sam asked.

"They watch Danny Phantom's every move," Danny explained. "They figured he only shows up when I'm around, so he and I must be friends."

"People are idiots," Sam said, rolling her eyes as they continued down the hall. "You have the same features, the same ridiculous height, and the same Goddamn name. You'd think they'd figure it out by now."

"Danny's a common name," Danny shrugged. "And maybe they think that I wouldn't be dumb enough to use my own name as my superhero name."

"You sure showed them," Sam said, earning her an elbow nudge. She laughed and shoved him back. "Why don't you take one of the Phangirls to the Halloween dance?"

"Because they are practically infants," Danny said. "And most of them are obsessive weirdoes. Nice, but very obsessive."

"Where are you drawing the line?" Sam asked. "Because Daisy is a sophomore, so that's like, basically a junior."

Danny rolled his eyes, knowing what conversation they were going to have. "Again?" He asked.

"She's nice, you'd like her!" Sam defended. But the truth was, she wanted Danny to date Daisy because she knew Danny _wouldn't _like her. At least not in a romantic way. She was nice, but a bit too much like Jazz. But even the part of Sam that was trying to push Danny away wanted to keep him close by. She knew it was wrong, but she wasn't quite ready for him to date someone he really liked.

"She's not my type," Danny said, failing to add that his type was vegetarian Goth girls.

"She's cute and smart," Sam said, fully realizing how weird it was for her to be pushing the guy she liked to date another girl. "And I'm not saying you have to marry her, just take her to the stupid dance."

"Fuck, will it get you off my back?" Danny said, his voice edged with annoyance. Sam looked taken aback for a moment, but she flipped to her defense mode, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"How about you not yell at me?"

"How about you let me make my own damn decisions?" Danny gritted through his teeth before storming off, leaving Sam slightly stunned with a few passing students looking at both of them, trying to figure out what the two had been fighting about.

He hadn't meant to make a scene in the hallway like that, but he had been getting not so subtle hints from Sam about asking out Daisy for the past two weeks. If she didn't want to be with him, the least she could do was let him grieve their non-relationship. Things between them had been mostly normal. Partly because they both pretended like nothing had ever happened. It was fairly easy, seeing as no one besides Tucker knew about them. Even when they were alone, they avoided any mention of their now voided arrangement. Danny didn't enjoy the not having sex part or the still not being with Sam part, but he didn't want to risk pushing the discussion anymore with Sam, so he kept quiet. Until just then, at least.

He mumbled furiously to himself as he got changed for gym in the locker room. It was the only class he didn't have with either Sam or Tucker, as Sam opted for last period gym so she could just go straight home and shower afterwards and Tucker had claimed an internal injury to get out of it completely. On most days, he was disappointed about not having anyone to get through class with, but today, he was happy he could be alone, at least for an hour.

"You okay there?" Danny looked down at the voice. The freckly brunette appeared almost like out of nowhere. Danny only got more annoyed.

"Did Sam tell you to talk to me?" He snapped at Daisy. Daisy raised an eyebrow at him.

"No?" She said. "You looked pissed off, which I now see that you are. I thought I'd ask."

He shook his head, now embarrassed that he'd yelled at a random girl for basically no reason. "Sorry, yeah, I'm just not in a great mood."

"Really?" She asked sarcastically. "I, for one, am absolutely tickled to be in this sweaty gym in these totally flattering nylon shorts."

Danny snorted out a surprised laugh. He'd never actually talked to Daisy, but he assumed that because her sister was such a shallow asshole who served as Paulina's handmaiden, Daisy would be much the same.

"I think they highlight my pasty legs perfectly, actually," Danny joked.

"Care to walk with me?" She asked.

"I've got a lot of talking to myself to do," Danny said. "But I suppose I can move that until later."

_**Lunch**_

Sam tried to be mad at Danny for snapping at her, but even she knew he had every right to be annoyed. She finally resolved to just leave him alone about Star's sister for a while. In truth, she was even starting to get a little bummed out about talking up another girl to the guy she wanted to be with, even if she denied it.

But apparently Danny had finally chosen to take her advice, as he was laughing with the sophomore as he walked to their table.

Sam had seen Daisy around school, but had never talked to her. She was about her height, maybe a bit taller. Besides her eyes, she looked nothing like Star, with tan skin and coppery brown hair that she almost always wore under a dark green beanie. She was thin and had perfect teeth, looking much like a model for a teen clothing store.

"Do you know Sam and Tucker?" Danny asked Daisy as they sat down, Danny next to Tucker and letting Daisy take a seat next to Sam.

"Oh, yeah, you're in my art class, right?" Daisy asked Sam.

"Yeah, I think so," Sam said, still getting her grip on the situation.

"You painted that midnight scene, with all the killer mermaids?" She asked. "I loved that. I almost took it to hang up in my room, I swear."

"Uhm, thanks," Sam said.

"Isn't your sister going to be a little mad about you ruining her rep by sitting with the geeks?" Tucker asked sarcastically.

"She thinks I ruin her rep by existing," Daisy laughed. "She suggested that I go to a different school."

"Maybe you should have taken her advice," Sam said. She caught herself and added, "Because Casper sucks."

"True, but I mean, where else gets terrorized by ghosts on the regular?"

"Are you saying you like the ghosts?" Danny asked.

"I do when they get me out of geometry," Daisy shrugged. "Speaking of which, I have a makeup test to do." She got up from the table, giving the trio her dazzling smile. "It was nice talking to you guys."

Tucker watched Sam as the brunette left their table. He could see her jaw tensed and knew she was trying her hardest to hide what she was feeling. Danny seemed oblivious, though.

"I guess you were right, Sam," He said, still looking at Daisy as she walked back into the school.

"I usually am," Sam said with a forced smile. Tucker thought her emotions were painted on her face as clearly as her lavender lipstick, but still didn't notice. "Are you going to ask her to the Halloween dance, then?"

"Do you think I should?" Both Tucker and Sam wanted to shout "NO" but Sam didn't want Danny to figure out that her whole push-Daisy-on-him plan was just a cover and Tucker didn't want to get clocked in the head with a combat boot.

"Totally," Sam said, nodding.

"Alright," Danny said, getting up from the table.

"Wait, right now?" Tucker asked. "You just started talking to her."

"The dance is this Saturday and I'll probably be slapped with ghost fighting all week. It's now or never."

"Get going, then," Sam said, encouragingly. As soon as Danny ran off to catch up with Daisy, Tucker turned a glare on his Goth friend.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Tucker asked.

"What?" Sam asked, feigning ignorance. "I wanted him to ask her, now he's asking her."

"Why are you doing this to yourself?" He asked, throwing his hands up. "You felt like shit when he dated Valerie and Paulina, so why would you push him to another girl?"

"That was Kitty possessing Paulina," Sam corrected, looking down at the table.

"Because that's the point right now," Tucker said, almost yelling.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Sam said suddenly, still studying the wooden picnic table.

"Okay, that's a little dramatic," Tucker said with an eye roll.

"No, I think I'm actually going to be sick," She said, her hand going over her mouth. She got up and tan from the table, before she could spill the cereal she'd had for breakfast.

Tucker was going to follow her, but he realized there wasn't much he could do from the outside of the girls bathroom besides get labeled a creep by the female student body. He stayed by his sandwich instead, shaking his head. "Fucking idiots," He said to his bread.

_**-0-**_

Danny caught up to Daisy in the hallway. He even had a moment to pause and think about what he was doing. Daisy was nice enough, and pretty, but she wasn't Sam. He definitely was not over Sam, but she seemed set in her ending the arrangement. And maybe, he hoped, it'd make her a little jealous to see him dating someone else.

"Hey, Daisy," Danny said, stepping up beside Daisy.

"Didn't I just see you?" Daisy asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, I just wanted to ask you something," Danny said. He wasn't necessarily nervous about asking her, he had just never been great at talking to girls that weren't Sam. Daisy nodded, hinting for him to go on. "You know about the dance on Saturday?"

"You mean that dance?" Daisy said, pointing to the sign next to them on the wall that advertised in big letters: "GET YOUR TICKETS NOW FOR THE CASPER HIGH HALLOWEEN BASH".

"Uh, yeah," Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. "That one. Are you going?"

"I was thinking about going with some friends, but I've got nothing planned."

"So would you maybe want to go with me?" Danny asked. "As my, you know, date."

Daisy blushed, but smiled. "I'd like that."

**Please review, tell me what you think! **


	4. Chapter 4

Tucker, because of his lack of date as well as love for his friend, forced Sam to come with him to the dance. He'd bribed her with the promise that she could pick the costumes, and that's how he'd ended up dressed as Frankenstein's Monster and Sam as Frankenstein, with a lab coat and wild hair. Tucker hadn't been able to talk to Danny about Daisy and Sam as Danny had been right about the ghosts being a hassle the past week. It was like they were coming out of nowhere, despite the lock Danny had put on the Ghost portal. They figured it was just Halloween, and hoped it would die down after the holiday.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Sam said, looking into the gym, now covered in orange and black streamers with pumpkins and skeletons hanging around on the bleachers.

"They should've had you decorate," Tucker said. "You have scarier shit in your bedroom."

"We could be at my house right now, eating pizza and watching the Nightmerica marathon."

"You hate the other two," Tucker pointed out.

"Exactly, that should tell you how much I don't want to be here right now," Sam said.

"Even with your fancy monster?" Tucker asked, gesturing to his costume. Sam gave him a small smile. She appreciated his effort. To his credit, he hadn't bothered her about Danny all week, as he knew she was already beating herself up about it.

"Thanks, Tuck, I just haven't been feeling five star," Sam said. She'd told him earlier that she'd been sick all week.

"Maybe you're preggers," Tucker joked. He spotted Danny and pulled her along.

Danny and Daisy were dressed as Count Dracula and his bride. Daisy had even abandoned her hat for the occasion. The two had matching red and black capes, with Danny in an old fashioned dark suit and Daisy in a blood red gown with her face painted pale white.

"I love your costumes," Daisy said, giving a smile that showed fangs covering her normally perfect teeth. "I guess we're the classics."

"She wanted to be a witch and have me dressed as her cat," Tucker joked. It was only then he noticed the terrified look on Sam's face.

"Are you okay, Sam?" Daisy asked. Sam suddenly snapped out of it.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," She said, giving a smile. "I thought I just saw Lancer in tights."

"That would be some scary Halloween," Danny said. He was also worried about Sam, as she still looked on edge, but he decided that she would tell him if it was really important. They were still best friends, after all. And he didn't have a lot of time to worry, as he got shoved to the side by a blonde rabbit.

"Daisy, what the Hell?" Star hissed at her sister, her hand squeezing her arm tightly. Tucker and Sam backed away from the sisters.

"Jesus, Star, what?" Daisy asked.

"What are you doing with these losers?"

"Great to see you, too, Star," Sam said, crossing her arms. Star ignored her.

"Did you actually come here with Fenton?" Star asked, pointing up at Danny.

"I told you I was going to," Daisy said, pulling her arm away.

"I thought you were kidding," Star said, her voice going high. "You have to leave right now before anyone sees you with him."

"I'm right here, you know," Danny said, putting his hands up. "Just in case you care."

"I don't," Star snapped at him.

"Just checking," Danny said, shooting a look to his friends.

"We'll keep her safe, don't worry," Sam assured sarcastically. "You can go get shitfaced in peace."

"Yeah, just pretend you don't know me," Daisy said.

"I wish I didn't," Star yelled before storming off.

"What a treat it must be to live with her," Tucker said, shaking his head.

"Well, as exciting as this is, I have to piss," Sam said, hurrying off to the girls' bathroom. Tucker wouldn't have thought anything of it, if he hadn't seen her hands shaking like they were on vibrate.

"I…should go with her," He said, lamely before quickly following her.

"That was weird," Danny noted before turning back to Daisy.

"They are a really good couple," Daisy mused. It took Danny a moment to realize what she'd said.

"What?" He asked. "Sam and Tucker?"

"Yeah, they're so cute together," She said.

"They're just friends," Danny said, getting defensive. "We're all just friends. Just three friends, doing friend things. Friends."

Daisy raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, friends, I get it," She laughed. "How about a dance?"

_**-0-**_

Tucker ignored the sign on the bathroom door and came in after Sam. She was already in a corner stall, and by the retching noises, Tucker could tell she was vomiting once again.

"Sam?" He asked.

"Tucker?" Sam said, her voice hoarse. "What the Hell are you doing in here?"

Tucker nudged open the stall door that she'd been in too much of a hurry to lock. He found her bent over the porcelain bowl, her face a greenish white.

"Are you okay?" Tucker asked. Sam rested her forehead on her arm across the seat.

"I think I might be pregnant," Sam's voice was barely above a whisper, but it echoed off the toilet bowl.

"Because what I said?" Tucker said, crouching down next to her. "Sam, I was kidding. It was a dumb joke."

"No, but you could be right," Sam said.

"I'm never right!"

"I've been sick all week, Tucker," Sam explained. "I hadn't really even thought about it until you said something, but I haven't had my period since before school started."

"Ewh."

Sam glared at him. "I'm not too sick to give you my speech about the normalcy of menstruation, Tucker."

"That was like two months ago. How had you not noticed?" Tucker asked.

"I don't know," Sam said, a little frustrated. "We're just always busy with ghosts or with school, I didn't even think about it."

"Well, maybe it's stress or something," Tucker supplied. "You guys always used condoms, right?"

"Yeah, of course," But as she said it, she remembered. She put her face in her hands. "Fuck," She hissed out.

"What?"

Sam shoved him, "Your stupid party," She wasn't really angry at Tucker, she just had to put her frustration somewhere. "I woke up naked with Danny. We were so drunk, we probably didn't use anything."

"And you didn't think about that the morning after?" Tucker asked.

"I guess I'll remember that for next time," Sam said sarcastically, shoving him again.

"Okay, we need to calm down, Sam," Tucker said, grabbing Sam's hands in his own. "We don't know anything for sure yet, right? It could be nothing."

Sam took a deep breath, nodding. Even though he wasn't the boy she was in love with, she was glad Tucker was in the bathroom with her right then. Despite their differences, he was her best friend, and he did know what to say.

"Let's get out of here before someone sees you."

_**-0-**_

Danny tried not to worry about what Sam and Tucker were doing in the bathroom. He would never think that they would be hooking up, but he had to wonder what the hell was going on with those two and why they were acting so strange, especially Sam. She'd been off her ghost hunting game when they needed it most and she'd even sat out a couple rounds.

"I can go check on her if you want," Daisy suggested, noticing Danny making glances at the girls' bathroom.

He was about to ask if she would, but Tucker and Sam chose that moment to come out. Danny let himself relax. "Nah, they're good."

"Are you?" Daisy asked.

"I'm-," Danny was cut off by a burst of cold air from his mouth. "Fuck."

"Is something wrong?" Daisy asked.

"No, it's all good," Danny said. "I'll be right back."

Danny left his date in the middle of the dance floor, running over to his friends.

"Oh, Danny," Tucker said. "I think we're gonna head out, just go hang out at Sam's."

"What? You're leaving?" Danny asked, a little offended that they were ditching him, until he remembered his ghost sense. "No, wait, you have to help me first."

"With what?" Sam asked.

Bloodcurdling screams rang off the walls of the gym as students scattered away from the tables at the edge of the floor. Three identical glowing green soldiers floated inches off the ground. Danny, Sam, and Tucker ran back to the bathroom, letting Danny duck inside while Sam and Tucker leaned against the door.

Danny Phantom shot through the bathroom wall, heading straight for the three soldiers. "I think I'm gonna need to see your tickets," He said, grabbing the soldiers attention.

"We're here for the Ghost Born," One of them said.

"The what? What the Hell is a 'ghost born'?" Danny asked. "Do you mean me?"

"We're you born a ghost?" Another soldier asked.

"No," Danny said. "Box Lunch was the only ghost born I know. But I don't want to think about that."

"This ghost is born in the mortal realm," The third explained.

"That's impossible," Danny said. "No one's born a ghost."

"Exactly," The first said.

"Alrighty then," Danny said. He raised a fist, shooting a ray of ice at the first soldier, who froze on the spot, but the other two scattered. He really wished they would just stay still and let him have it easy for just this once. He'd been battling all week, he was tired and just wanted to hang out with his friends.

Sam came up behind the table with the Fenton Thermos, sucking in the incapacitated ghost soldier and tossed it to Danny. Danny sped after the remaining two, soaring over the crowd of screaming teenagers, some out of fear, some out of excitement about seeing the ghost boy once again.

"This is too easy," He said, mostly to himself as he trapped the last two as well. A lot of the ghosts he'd been encountering lately hadn't put up much of a fight. He wondered if it really was Halloween, or if it was this "Ghost Born" that was causing him all his ghost annoyance.

Sam and Tucker ran back to the bathroom to cover him once again as he changed from Phantom to Fenton. He walked out, noticing that the crowd was still going crazy despite the ghosts being now safely locked in the Thermos.

"You alright?" Tucker asked.

"Fine," Danny said. "That was barely an inconvenience. But they said something weird."

"Weird like what?" Sam asked.

"Something about a 'Ghost Born'," Danny said.

"No one's born a ghost," Tucker said.

"That's what I said," Danny said. "And what would they want with it anyways? It's less than ghost, so who cares?"

"Well, you're a half ghost and everyone wants you," Sam suggested. "You can pass for ghost and human, the best of both worlds. Maybe that's why they want it."

"Whatever it is, I think all these ghosts are after it," Danny said.

"We're gonna have to find whoever it is and warn them," Tucker said.

"I'll drop Daisy off and meet you guys at Sam's in a little bit."

_**-0-**_

Being the greatest of friend, Tucker had gone into the corner store by himself to buy the little box of pregnancy tests. He'd also used Sam's card to buy a bag of beef jerky, which she normally would have berated him for, but she decided to let it slide this once.

Now, they sat together in Sam's cavernous empty bathtub in their Halloween costumes, their legs hanging off the side, both staring at the white plastic stick on top of the toilet seat. They still had a minute to wait.

"Could be stress," Tucker suggested again, tearing off a mouthful of jerky.

"Could be," Sam said. Tucker reached out and grabbed her hand in his and Sam gave him a tiny smile.

"It's gonna be okay, Sam," He assured. "No matter what, you have Danny and me."

"I know I do," Sam said with a nod. "Buds for life."

He squeezed her hand, "Buds for life."

The timer on Tucker's PDA went off, suggesting it was now safe to look at the test. Sam held tightly to Tucker's hand. "You look at it. I can't do it."

"You peed on that, I'm not touching it," Tucker said. "I believe in you."

Sam took a deep breath before pushing herself out of the bathtub, perching herself on the edge. She grabbed up the plastic stick, but didn't look at it right away.

"What's it say?" Tucker encouraged.

She finally looked down, seeing the little pink plus sign. Sam hissed out the longest "fuck" she'd ever uttered, tears starting to pour down her cheeks.

"Fuck," Tucker repeated.

"Fuck," She said again, smacking a hand to her forehead. "Tucker, this is the stupid 'Ghost Born'," She said, mad at herself for not realizing it as soon as Danny told them earlier. It would have saved her the effort of peeing on a plastic wand.

"Oh my God," Tucker said, also amazed at his inability to put the two together.

The door slam downstairs indicated the arrival of the last third of the trio. Sam quickly shoved the test and the box to the bottom of her wastebasket, covering it with other trash. She washed her hands and pulled Tucker out of the tub.

"Don't tell Danny," She said quietly, even though she knew Danny wouldn't be able to hear them unless he was sitting with his ear pressed right on her bathroom door.

"What?" Tucker asked.

"Don't tell him," Sam begged. "I'll tell him, but not tonight."

"Sam, he's going to be looking for the Ghost Born, and we already found it," He said. "Not to mention, you're fucking pregnant with his kid."

"Just not tonight, please Tucker."

Tucker looked at her pleading face, his lips tight. He sighed. "Fine, but tell him soon." She thanked him profusely before they hurried out of the bathroom, back into Sam's room, just as Danny entered, his face still knitted together in thought.

"Are they a student?" Danny said, mostly to himself, like he was continuing a conversation he'd been having before he got there. He was too immersed to notice his two best friends acting strange.

"Maybe it's not born yet," Tucker suggested. Sam shot him a glare, but he ignored it.

"Did someone fuck a ghost, then?" Danny asked.

"Probably. How creepy is that," Tucker said. Sam looked ready to punch him.

"That seems like a Johnny 13 thing to do," Danny said. "Let's start there."


End file.
